The May tornado outbreak will be remembered for the EF-5 tornado that struck Joplin, Mo., resulting in at least 141 deaths, making it the deadliest single tornado to strike the U.S. since modern tornado record-keeping began in 1950.

Drought, heat waves, and wildfires spread across Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, southern Kansas, western Arkansas, and Louisiana. Fighting the wildfire costs are estimated at $1 million per day with over 2,000 homes and structures lost. Direct losses (as of Aug. 15) to agriculture, cattle, and structures are well over $5 billion.

The melting of an above-average snow pack across the Northern Rocky Mountains combined with above-average precipitation caused the Missouri and Souris Rivers to swell beyond their banks across the Upper Midwest. An estimated 11,000 people were forced to evacuate Minot, N.D., due to the record high water level of the Souris River, where 4,000 homes were flooded. Numerous levees were breached along the Missouri River, flooding thousands of acres of farmland.

The damage from Hurricane Irene has been estimated at $13 billion, and about 750,000 people remain without electricity because of the storm. The hurricane tore up the East Coast, caused massive inland flooding, and resulted in at least 45 deaths in 13 states.